


Caught in the Churn

by esprit_boheme



Category: The Expanse (TV), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Alternate Universe - Space Opera, Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Nile Freeman Friendship, Eros Incident (The Expanse), F/F, Good Quynh | Noriko, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Immortal Wives Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Inspired by The Expanse, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani and Nicky | Nicolò di Genova are in Love, M/M, Post-Eros Incident (The Expanse), Team as Family, be the lykon content you want to see in the world, lykon lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28459995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esprit_boheme/pseuds/esprit_boheme
Summary: The crew of theScythianhas perfected the art of doing good in the shadows.  Bound together by a mysterious parasite that infects them with immortality, the six of them navigate a system teetering on the edge of war.  If there's one thing they count on, it's that they are alone in the universe.Suddenly, ships start falling out of the sky and a cold war burns hot.  TheScythianand her crew must pursue the mystery of their gift as one company's search for eternal life draws the system closer and closer to annihilation.(The Expanse!AU about 3 people asked for.)
Relationships: Andy | Andromache & Booker & Nile Freeman & Joe & Nicky & Quynh | Noriko & Lykon, Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Lykon & Quynh | Noriko, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Nile Freeman, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Lykon & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	Caught in the Churn

**Author's Note:**

> It has been literal years since I've written anything, but this idea wouldn't let me go. This would not have been possible without the help/enabling of Michelle aka captainshakespear. Thank you so much for brainstorming this universe with me and pushing for this story to be the best it can be <3.
> 
> This is a shared universe with The Expanse, a fantastic series everyone should check out. Everything recognizable belongs to James S.A. Corey and/or Amazon, as well as Greg Rucka.

_In the 24th century, humans have colonized the Solar System._

_The UN controls Earth._

_Mars is an independent military power._

_The inner planets depend on the resources of the asteroid belt. Belters live and work in space._  
_In the Belt, air and water are more precious than gold. For decades, tensions have been rising - Earth, Mars, and the Belt are now on the brink of war._

_All it will take is a single spark…_

_The Scythian, somewhere in the Asteroid Belt, circa 2350 AD_

Booker had learned many new things in his lifetime. He had learned Belter creole from his parents; he’d learned the reality of life in the Belt, and the importance of air and water. He had learned division by breaking up food for his family and stretching it to last until the next paycheck. He had learned that when his boss assigned him a kidnap job to find a crazy-rich scientist’s daughter, he should say no, and he’d learned the exact limit of alcohol he could put into his body at night and still be able to go to work in the morning. He’d learned that these days, death was more of a suggestion than a rule for him. 

Currently, he was learning the true meaning of the phrase “going over like a lead balloon,” which coincidentally matched the feeling of his stomach sinking perfectly.

“Please tell me that the last high-G maneuver damaged my hearing in some way.”

“Andy—”

“That shouldn’t be possible, I know, and yet here we are.” Andromache had her arms crossed tight across her chest, one finger tapping her upper arm as she stared at Booker standing in the middle of the ship’s kitchen. None of the others moved to help him at all. Quỳnh’s stare reminded Booker of a reptile he had seen in lessons about Earth, while Lykon looked at him like he was trying to solve a Gordian knot. Joe and Nicky stayed quiet but Booker could see Joe’s fingers drumming erratically on the table.

“And—”

“That must be it, I’ve decided. Because you’re smart, Book. You may have a death wish but you don’t want to be caught and experimented on any more than the rest of us.”

 _Okay, ouch_. It was an effort for Booker to keep his face blank at that sting. He tried again. “Andy, please—”

“No, no, you’ve seen the news bursts the same as we have! Ships are being blown out of the sky and no one knows who to blame! Whole _moons_ are being destroyed! What are you thinking?!”

Booker heaved a sigh through his nose as he shook his head. It wasn’t like he had not come prepared for a fight. He hadn’t expected that asking for what amounted to a mini vacation as the solar system geared up for war would be met with applause. But for all Andy’s fight, he knew that she wanted a break as badly as he did.

“Love, to know what he’s thinking, you need to let him explain first.” Booker would kiss Quỳnh if he didn’t think both she and Andy would castrate him and nail his balls to the nose of the _Scythian_.

Andy let out her breath in a huff and turned to look at Quỳnh. There were decades contained in that glance that made Booker ache with fond jealousy. “I’ll hear him out.”

“I was thinking—” and here he made sure to swivel his head and look at the rest of the crew as well, “—that it’s a tradition. We go to Eros for a break, we sleep, we drink, we gamble, and we don’t have to live in each other’s pockets for at least a week. You don’t break tradition.”

Lykon snorted. “Really, Booker? Traditions are well and good until following them gets people killed. The rest of us aren’t so desperate for this that we can’t wait until the system is more settled and Phoebe’s destruction is out of the news.”

“Earth and Mars are a stone’s throw from war.” Booker looked to Joe, whose eyes seemed to glimmer at him from his seat at the kitchen table. Nicky’s hand tightened on Joe’s shoulder and Booker mentally crossed them off as viable weak points in his psychological campaign. Joe may have become disillusioned with Mars long ago, but he served in the Martian Navy—a ship like the _Donnager_ being blown to scrap without any suspects, right after Mars got blamed for the destruction of an unarmed ice freighter like the _Canterbury _? Joe might be smarting now, but his need to know would fester. Neither he nor Nicky would be able to stop themselves from investigating and that wouldn’t be easy on a backwater asteroid where the entire point was to forget. “We’ve known that the system balanced on the edge of a knife, and now there are ships being destroyed by mysterious forces. Everyone is blaming everyone else, no thanks to Holden stoking the fires. The Inners are marching their way straight to another Vesta, and you think that we can just … just take a break?”__

“I do have other arguments as well.” He held up his fingers and began to tick off, facing Andy, Quỳnh, and Lykon. At his back, he heard Joe give a small growl. “Everyone’s been tense as shit the last week with everything happening. Yes, Phoebe is in the news, Phoebe was destroyed. In my opinion, that is a reason to celebrate, but I digress. With Phoebe, the _Canterbury_ , the _Donnager_ , James Holden and his little band, it is all fucked up. But we are not going to fix anything by just floating out here!” Quỳnh continued staring at him impassively from where she sat perched on the kitchen counter. She had situated herself right next to the liquor cabinet and had her foot hooked into the handle so that Andy couldn’t help herself during the discussion. From the lines of her shoulders, Booker liked his chances with her. “We are talking about Eros right now. Not Luna, not Tycho Station, not Pallas. Even on Ceres, we called it the asscrack of the Belt.”

Andy snorted slightly. Her hands stayed on her hips but at least she no longer had them crossed in front of her chest. “That’s because it _is_. It’s a hub for booze, sex, and gambling, and I would normally say that with approval, but there’s no telling what’s going on in the underbelly there. I want to relax, too, but I feel better out here in the black where at least we can get moving as soon as anything happens.”

“It is Eros, Andy. The only obstacle to us leaving as fast as we can run is keeping enough credits to pay off the dockmaster.”

Quỳnh’s mouth finally ticked upwards. “I understand the hesitation, love. But I think Booker has a point.”

Lykon pursed his lips but cocked his head to the side. “You know I’ve already been looking at new jobs that’ll take us away from everything. We have a way to remove ourselves from this situation without setting foot anywhere in the Belt.”

“We just got off of a ten month stint on an ice freighter and you want to take us out on another long job?” Quỳnh shook her head. “Book said we need a break and he’s not wrong. I’m tired. We’re all tired. Even just a week off on a backwater asteroid would benefit everyone.”

Booker beamed but he could see Andy still frowning and Lykon looked to be chewing the inside of his cheek. He had Quỳnh on his side, though. He could make this work. Quỳnh had helped him win more high-stakes arguments than this. Booker had a suspicion that she liked to rile Andy up every now and then, and what better way for her to keep Andy on her toes than to side with the baby and cause some mayhem along the way? “Boss, think about it. When was the last time any news story in the Belt or on Mars or Earth actually focused on Eros? How many Inners other than gamblers even know its name?”

“Oh, I know that one!” Quỳnh shot her hand up in the air, grinning. _Leave it to Quỳnh to make sure that no argument becomes too serious_ , he thought fondly.

“Yes, Quỳnh, do tell.”

“None!”

“You are correct, Quỳnh! Please see the boss after class to collect your reward.” The smirk Quỳnh slanted towards Andy was dirty enough that Booker wanted to wash his hands. 

“The majority of Inners might not know about Eros,” Andy allowed, even as she gave a small smile at Quỳnh’s antics, “but the OPA has a presence there and they are definitely monitoring for anything out of the ordinary right now. Just because the Inners are the ones making noise at the moment doesn’t mean the OPA is out of it. We know the _Tachi_ and James Holden’s crew are on Tycho Station. That makes the all of the OPA a player, whether the rest of the factions want it or not.”

The Outer Planets Alliance getting involved wasn’t ideal, but Booker was a Belter through and through, down to his brittle bones. He worked with what he was given, always. “We can use that to our advantage! Believe me, I know it’s not ideal for the OPA to be mining for information, but if we make the right connections, we can have that information for ourselves. We might not have been to Eros in some time but we still have our friends in low places. This would be a perfect way to exchange information, to get more than what Anderson Dawes or Fred Johnson let slip to the newscasters. Andy, you’re always more sober than I am during these trips—” at this, Andy nodded, “and you will not be able to rest until you have some more information about Phoebe’s destruction and whether it’s connected to our… situation. So in between your drinking, you could reintroduce yourself to some of our friends there and see if the OPA has heard talk of why Mars would destroy a random moon.” 

Andy pushed herself off from the sink and paced the length of the kitchen. When she got back to the alcohol cabinet, she leaned her arm against it and looked between the five of them. 

“Let’s say I go along with this for a minute.” She raised her hand to ward off Joe’s scoff. “ _Just_ for a minute... I would want a clean transponder code before we get to Eros. We’d need to wipe the name off the side and go in as a completely different ship. And we can’t use our own accounts to pay for drinks or hostels or anything on there, otherwise going in with a clean ship doesn’t mean shit.”

“I change this transponder for a living, Andy, I can do it in my sleep and not blow us up.” Andy tilted her head to the side in consideration and Quỳnh gave Booker a subtle thumbs up. “As for identification and currency, you know Lykon and I have a supply of that. I made it, it will all pass any inspection. Clean identification, clean money, nothing to trace back to us.”

There was a lengthy pause where Booker could hear every second ticking away like a gong inside his head.

“Okay,” Andy said on a deep exhale. “Okay. But the IDs need to be airtight, Book. And we can’t stay for two weeks as usual… one week tops.”

Booker clapped his hands together and whooped. When he looked up, he locked his eyes on Lykon. The other man twirled a small knife between his fingers absently as his brow furrowed.

“This is a dangerous time for us.” Booker stayed quiet. Lykon measured his words carefully and if he talked, Booker listened. “We are not a normal crew. Especially after the _Cant_ and the _Donnager_ , with all the tensions going up again, even people on Eros will look twice when four Earthers, a Martian, and a Belter arrive together. And just because we aren’t attached at the hip for the time does not mean that we stay apart either.”

Booker reached a hand up to scratch at his cheek. Lykon had a good point. Since the war, Earthers and Martians largely did not interact. Even in places like Eros, they would mingle with Belters more readily than with each other, and that was saying something considering many Inners only wanted to mingle with Belter prostitutes. Seeing a Martian like Joe not only partnered with an Earther, but on a crew with more of them? It would attract curiosity, if nothing else.

Add to that the fact that Booker was a Belter, and they would be a walking conversation starter. The Inners who saw their group would sneer and the Belters would be just as likely to scoff but shrug it off as they would be to label him a _welwalla_ , a traitor to the Belt. They could have slipped by with just a second glance before ships started being blown out of the sky, but their luck had run out. The only way for them to not draw scrutiny would be ...

“So maybe this time, just Andy and I go.”

Predictably, four voices spoke up in protest. Andy remained silent, and she had a considering look on her face. “That could work.”

“Boss—”

“You have got to be—”

“Ok, that’s pushing it a bit—”

“No, listen.” The chatter stopped on a dime. Booker had been on her crew for 10 years, the newest of the six of them, and he did not think that he would ever have a tenth of this woman’s power. “Does anyone doubt I can handle myself?”

Silence.

“Does anyone doubt Booker can handle himself?”

“Well—”

“Joe, I’m going to be right with him, that wasn’t a serious question.” Booker reared back in offense but Andy continued without pause. “We’re safest when we’re together, except if we are on the surface right now. The two of us together wouldn’t attract attention on Eros: Booker blends in as a Belter and one Earther with him won’t really turn heads. We’d be able to be in contact with the ship the whole time, you’re hardly leaving us to fend for ourselves even if you’re not right next to us.”

Booker looked around the kitchen at the others. His family. Fifteen years ago, he had believed that he would be alone forever as the system spun around him, haunted by blue-tinted dreams that didn’t make sense and fireflies in the corners of his vision, sparks that disappeared as soon as he turned his head. He had believed himself to be cursed after returning from a trip to Phoebe, a changed man, unable to bleed and unable to explain why. The death of his wife in a tram accident 1 year after his return and his youngest son’s accusatory words as he succumbed to a cancer that his father never would have left him shattered. His wife dead, his youngest son dead, his 2 older ones cursing his name ... Booker had made it his business to be drinking or working at all times, simultaneously if possible. 

Then, Andromache and the crew of the _Scythian_ upended his life without apology, and he had been working to figure out his place ever since. Andy wasn’t wrong when she said he had a death wish, but now he also had brothers and sisters who had let him know he was loved before they ever met him in person. With the help of their dreams, they saw him in his darkest moments and cherished him anyway. But that could not fix everything, and did not replace his need to mourn.

“Lykon.” His brother turned to look at him and waited. “Please. It’s the anniversary and I… Please.”

Lykon’s face softened and his eyes took on their characteristic sparkle. He hated to stay serious for so long, which stressed how much recent events worried him. Was this cheating? Maybe, but Booker would feel bad about it after he got his way. Lykon seemed to realize that everyone in the kitchen had their eyes on him and rolled his own towards the ceiling.

“Alright, it’s not the worst plan I’ve heard. But I want to iron out specifics on the way to Eros.”

“Yes, absolutely, whatever you want.” Booker’s words tripped over each other pouring out of him. He felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders, like he had walked into 0G without warning.

“I think this is a mistake.”

 _Nicky_. Booker had forgotten about Nicky. He had fallen into the trap that had killed so many others; Nicky was not at his most dangerous when he exploded, though that was a terrifying sight to behold. Nicky was at his most dangerous when he was quiet because when he was quiet, he was thinking. Booker turned around and faced his brother as his mind slowly floated back down to his skull.

“I know why you want this, Booker, but we are at the beginning of something that can change everything. We might be tired but this is what we do. There are people across the system who are scared, and confused, and they are about to make decisions that could either shape or destroy everything. I don’t think it’s a good idea to let our guard down now, even for our own benefit. We have seen just in the last several weeks how fast the situation can change. Others do not have our gift of time, they cannot wait this out and hope that it blows over while we hide our heads in the sand.”

Booker opened his mouth to unload his vitriol as he had so many times before, to tell Nicky just how familiar he was with how unnaturally long the six of them had, but Nicky raised his hand to cut him off before he got a word out.

“I am not stopping you. It’s four to two, you have the majority. But I have a bad feeling about this, and,” he huffed out an almost silent laugh, “we’re the only ones guaranteed to live to regret it.”

Nicky and Joe stood up as one and drifted out the door. Booker didn’t know where they were off to and while he knew he was being unfair, as he so often was when comparing his hurts to anyone else’s, he didn't care. Booker turned back to look at the other three.

“So. Drink and then plan?”

Nicolò reached for Yusuf’s hand as soon as the two of them left the kitchen and linked their fingers together. Without speaking, Yusuf took the lead and guided them down the stairs to the crew’s cabins. Nicky palmed the door closed once they were both inside their room and watched as Yusuf sat heavily on their bed.

“This is a bad idea.”

Joe sighed before sitting up from his position hunched over his knees. “You know I agree with you on this. We should have pushed harder, Lykon could have been convinced.”

“Lykon had both Quỳnh and Booker giving him doe eyes while Andy talked herself into the idea. He was a goner.” With this, he was at least able to coax Joe into a smile.

“I can’t argue with that.”

Nicolò waited for something to follow that, but nothing came. No tease about Lykon caving to their double team, no more acerbic comment about Booker’s fixation on this trip while the rest of the system imploded. Both of them were comfortable with silence, but he did not need the blue tickle in the back of his brain to understand that this was not a silence of contentment. He crossed the room and lowered himself to his knees in front of Yusuf. Yusuf wasn’t avoiding his scrutiny. On the contrary, he watched Nicolò all the way across the floor and then locked eyes with him when they were at similar level. Nicky was treated to the full force of his fear. “We have been together a long time, my life. I know for certain you could argue that if you wished.”

Yusuf shook his head and finally broke the thread holding their gazes. He rolled his lips into his mouth and Nicky could see by the movement of his jaw that he was tearing at the skin with his teeth. Nicky felt the sympathetic bite at his own bottom lip and waved off the blue encroaching in the corners of his vision. As much as he loved them, it wasn’t Yusuf’s lips that concerned him. He had patience in abundance; he could wait out this assault.

“You were right when you said that others don’t have the same luxury of time. It just seems like even accounting for that, we’re racing towards something that hasn’t happened before.” Joe hissed at his teeth finally tore a deep strip off his lip and purple blood beaded before glowing blue and emerging as fresh pink skin. “Earth and Mars…” His voice cracked like the ice they had spent the last year mining. “The last time it felt like this was 40 years ago.”

“I remember.”

“I know, I know you do, my moon. It’s hardly the same situation. Mars is no longer a colony, it has grown fat off the Belt just like Earth, they could be the aggressors here for all we know but… The _Donnager_ was the flagship of Mars’ Jupiter fleet, and she blew up as easily as any other ship. There are so many questions just bouncing around in my head, it makes me want to reach in and scratch my brain.”

Nicolò weighed his words in his mouth before speaking. “You’re right. All the _Donnager’s_ might couldn’t protect her or her crew. But the _Donnager_ also destroyed four of the ships that ambushed her. Mars’ defenses have not fully been tested yet; you know that as well as anyone.”

“I know the Mars I used to serve, the Mars that fought for its freedom. That’s not this Mars.” Joe felt his eyes drawn back to Nicky as to the only light in darkness. “Even so… Mars might not be what it once was, but I can’t just sit and wait for war to descend. My parents, Maïssa, the longer this goes on, who knows what will happen? The longer we wait for things to unfold around us, the more danger they’re in, not to mention us!” Yusuf gestured sharply towards the door. “And they’re just going along with this plan! What happens if Phoebe was destroyed for a reason? It wasn’t just the science station that was destroyed, Mars blasted the whole moon out of the sky! Who can say what Mars, or Earth, or corporate scientists found there, or whether they know that there are people in the system infected with the parasite? What if this was an attempt to wipe it out and now they have a way of hunting it throughout the system? Will they be able to find it in us? Wh—”

“Yusuf, Yusuf!” Nicky cradled Yusuf’s face in his hands, stroking the thin skin underneath his eyes. He had watched Joe’s face become more and more animated as he asked the questions none of them could answer, and could feel the buzzing in his own brain that indicated Joe’s mind was spinning fast enough to achieve flight. “Breathe, Joe. Just because we can come back does not mean that you need to suffocate yourself to make your point.” Joe closed his eyes, eyelashes tickling against the pads of Nicky’s thumbs. He pressed his face forward into Nicky’s hands, reaching up to gently clasp his wrists. For several seconds, they shared air.

“If people find out about us, none of us would ever see each other again. And there they are, so easily talking about separating for something so trivial! Nicolò, I can’t—it can’t happen.”

Nicky ached in a way that seemed so antithetical in space. Here in the black he would expect to be weightless and free. Instead, his heart, as it had for 40 years, fought against the confines of his body to reach for the soul in front of him. The air sparked blue between them and their foreheads drew together as if by magnet.

“I can feel your mind churning. I share your fears, Joe, you know I do. I think the only thing you have not covered was wondering if Earth had something to do with either the _Canterbury_ or the _Donnager_ disasters.” Yusuf squeezed his wrists slightly.

“Do you think that Earth had something to do with it?” 

Nicky drew back slightly to sit on his heels, feeling pressure rise in his throat. Did he think Earth had destroyed either an unarmed ice freighter out of the blue or the flagship of the Martian Navy’s Jupiter fleet? Forty years after cooler heads had prevented all out war with devastating consequences for both sides, why would the UN lead Earth on a war to reclaim their lost colony? He could feel his teeth grinding together the more he thought about it.

“I will not say it’s out of the question, but…” Nicolò trailed off before looking back at Yusuf. “The Secretary-General of the United Nations does not have the spine to do anything like this, no matter how underhanded. He reacts, he does not act. The undersecretary I cannot say. But the deputy undersecretary, Avasarala? I have crossed paths with her briefly before. While she is a politician, sometimes in the worst way, she is not a warmonger. If someone from Earth is pulling the strings, I can’t see how it fits together.”

Yusuf nodded as his thumbs swiped rhythmically against Nicky’s pulse points. His lips twitched slightly as he teased, “My heart rubbed elbows with the deputy undersecretary of the UN during his illustrious military career? I’m in the presence of greatness. Here I thought that you were just the cannon fodder.” Nicky felt so full of love, so deeply devoted, that he was distantly surprised the love did not leak in purple rivulets from his pores. That was a royal color worthy enough for Yusuf. He mustered a small smile as Yusuf looked up again to catch his gaze.

“Your parents and Maïssa are as safe as they can be right now. If battle is coming, it will first come in the stars, not on the planets. Mars has stealth technology and planetary defenses that have dissuaded Earth from war for the past 40 years. Longer, if we consider that when we were fighting in the war, neither Earth nor Mars actually got planetside.” 

Joe’s brow creased with worry but he did not interrupt. 

“As for you and I? We do not separate.” Nicky felt his heart rate accelerate just considering the idea, just speaking it out into the recycled air between them. He licked his dry lips and continued. “As far as we know, no one but us knows about the parasite on Phoebe. Mars destroyed Phoebe before the Earth vessel could get there, we have no reason to believe that it had anything to do with us, with what we are. Do not borrow us trouble that we cannot pay back, my love.”

“Oh, but we are so good at paying it back.” Nicky felt the air brush against his mouth and jaw as Yusuf breathed out a laugh. Warmth spread through his chest again like the rising of the sun. Clouds had lifted slightly from behind Yusuf’s eyes and Nicky felt settled for the first time since Booker had called the house meeting in the kitchen. This love often felt too big for words to encompass, but in moments like this, he found that the best and only word was ‘home.’

“I will not dispute that. But I do have some things to take care of before I have time for trouble, if you please.” The indulgent look Joe leveled at him unearthed a full laugh. Joe laced his fingers between Nicky’s and gallantly allowed him to continue. “The first thing you should do is send a message to Maïssa to check on her and your parents. Assure her that you are not yet involved in any of this and assure yourself that they are well. The second thing we do,” Nicky made sure that his eye roll was evident not just on his face but in his voice, “is crash the planning meeting undoubtedly happening above us and make sure that it’s a plan we can all live with.”

Lykon waved Andy off when she tried to top off his drink. His shoulders felt heavy enough without the alcohol to pull him down. When Andy shrugged and set the bottle down on the table, Lykon turned back to Booker seated next to him.

“So we’ve decided on changing the transponder code, we’ve decided that we can make it to Eros in 3 days at a medium burn, and we’ve decided on a general flight path.” Quỳnh nodded vaguely at him from where she was hunched over her data pad, mentally flying through different routes and discarding them.

“We’ve also decided that we can be back in 7 days for pick up and you don’t have to stay docked for that time,” Andy said as she settled herself into her chair beside Quỳnh. “Technically, you don’t even need to land, we can just take the skiff—”

“We’re landing,” Quỳnh cut her off, still without looking up. Lykon nodded sharply.

“Just because we agreed to have you two go off alone doesn’t mean we won’t stay together as long as possible.” Andy conceded with a shrug and sat back with her drink. Lykon directed his next comment to Booker. “We have IDs that you and I have developed, we just need to go through them in the next 3 days, choose the tightest ones. The last thing we need is for you to get stopped at the docks for inspection.”

Booker gave his Belter shrug, moving his hands more than his shoulders. Lykon felt a burst of warm fondness in his chest at the motion. Now that he had won his fight, Booker would be as pliant as paper. It was how he always acted after an argument, like he was trying to win back good graces, as if he damaged his place in the family by making his desires known. One day, Lykon dreamed of being able to hear Booker express his needs without alcohol for courage, without days or weeks or months of the rest of them trying to pry their way into his thoughts. One day. Until then, Lykon made it his job to learn Booker better than he knew himself.

“I have ideas for which IDs could work best,” Booker said. “We can see if we remember using any of those on Eros before, try to make sure that we use the cleanest ones possible.”

Lykon could still feel unease bubbling in his stomach even as they went through their plans. This was not a dangerous mission; Booker had been right that Eros was the asscrack of the Belt and the chances of people looking for survivors of the parasite were low. Being able to track the parasite to them across the stars when no one living knew they were infected was even lower. Somehow, it still felt like the most risk they had taken in years.

He blinked against the subtle blue tint to his vision and slowly, it receded. Maybe his anxiety actually belonged to his small stow-away. The cacophonous buzzing in his head that exploded several weeks ago with the destruction of Phoebe had slowly settled to a low hum, but it left behind a tightness in his chest that would not go away. Lykon’s eyes traced over his family as he tried to focus on the present. It was his job to help plan, and he trusted the others to watch his back, just as he did for them.

“Lykon.”

His gaze went to Andromache at the sound of his name. Andy and Quỳnh both watched him with understanding. He wasn’t the only one with a passenger, after all.

“So,” he continued, “we have the transponder, we have the route, we have the timetable, we have the plan for docking, and we have IDs that we can choose to provide the best cover.”

“Did you plan for changing the drive plume?” a voice questioned from his right. Lykon looked over to Yusuf’s head emerging from the stairway, followed by his body, which was followed by Nicolò. The hum softened even more, as it always did when all six of them were together. “Changing the transponder is all well and good, but to be untraceable we have to dirty the drive plume. Tweak the reactor to burn dirty and we have a whole new fingerprint.”

Joe crossed the room to sit on Booker’s left, Nicky sliding in behind him to lean his hip against the table beside Joe. Even if Nicky wasn’t talking right now, the fact that Joe was offering suggestions meant that Nicky would help put into place whatever plan the room decided on. Lykon could feel his shoulders relax slightly, some of the weight removed.

“It’s not going to be pretty,” Yusuf continued. While he was frowning, his arm was resting on the table beside Booker’s. “Which is the point, but also it’s going to burn our fuel faster. We have enough to get us to Eros, even burning dirty, but we’ll need to refuel there.”

“We hadn’t talked about it yet.” The admission seemed to be dragged out from between Booker’s gritted teeth and Lykon’s hand twitched to reach out and clasp his wrist, but in the end his fingers curled towards his palm. Joe was trying, and Booker’s defences were as likely to set Yusuf off as they were to be ignored. Thankfully, Joe barely blinked at the tone. Nicolò side eyed Booker but also appeared to let it go. Lykon felt like his nerves were buzzing with electric anticipation as he waited to see if he needed to intervene. He pressed his knuckles to the table to keep the shakes from showing, wanting to give these three a chance to handle themselves. 

“Well, we need to,” Joe said simply.

“We don’t have a choice if we truly want to remain undetected,” Nicky chimed in. Lykon cut his eyes between Nicky and Booker as Booker’s attention switched from Joe to Nicky. There was a moment of silence where Lykon felt his blood pressure skyrocket before Booker reverted to the more placid post-argument version of himself. Tension seemed to leak out of the room as it disappeared from Booker’s shoulders.

“I know, it’s necessary. I think we might be going overboard with the protections, but whatever you need to do is fine with me,” Booker said.

“Then we need to decide what we do while the two of you go to shore.”

Lykon liked to think he was observant, but right now it wasn’t hard to see Nicky’s distaste. A muscle twitch in Nicky’s jaw, the slight downturn of his mouth on one side, and Lykon knew that Nicky was going along with this despite his own better judgement. Lykon wondered if Booker could even see that Yusuf and Nicolò were putting aside decades of instincts in order to keep him happy, but he doubted it. As much as he loved his youngest brother, he knew Booker’s pain could blind him to others’ feelings.

“Well, like I said, I have been looking into short jobs,” he offered. Nicky and Joe shook their heads while Quỳnh wrinkled her nose. He held up his hands in surrender. “It is just an option. I’m not saying that is my first choice.”

“I might have agreed to a job right now if it was all of us, but not with only some of us,” Quỳnh said.

“At most I would want us to be circling Eros,” Joe agreed quickly. Nicky nodded off to his side and added, “Less traffic, lower docking fees, less attention paid to ships than Ceres or Pallas, we would have better luck docking and staying on Eros than we would anywhere else.”

“We’ll need to stay on for a while to refuel and do maintenance checks anyway, so I’m fine with staying dockside,” Quỳnh agreed. Andy nodded as well.

“If you would rather do that than just staying in orbit, it wouldn’t be a problem,” she shrugged.

“Alright, no job and we stay docked at Eros for the week while we refuel and run checks,” Lykon said. Booker tipped his flask at him in agreement. “When you’re on Eros, you could just stay at the usual spot. The Blue Falcon has a low enough profile without being seen as a crime den, so it won’t be watched by the security force.”

“And after the week, we discuss what to do about Phoebe,” Nicky said firmly. His eyes traveled around the table to look at all of his crewmates. Joe leaned sideways slightly so that his shoulder pressed into Nicky’s hip. 

Sometimes, Lykon longed for Yusuf and Nicolò’s kind of connection. At the same time, he had seen the devastation on their faces when the other got hurt in a way that the parasite could not immediately fix, the agony as they waited for the other to wake. He had seen their separations take a toll on them that Lykon and the others did not face. He feared for his brothers as much as envied them. He would not call them two halves of a whole—they were whole people in their own rights. Instead, he thought of them as binary stars. He dreaded what would happen if one of those stars went out. As it was, Lykon felt fairly certain that Nicolò’s burning moral compass would keep them all alive with its power. 

Andy pursed her lips and rubbed her thumb and forefinger together absently as Nicolò continued. “We know that everything looks bad for Earth and Mars and we also know that when things look bad for the Inner Planets, the Belt suffers the most. There will be food and water rations, air rations, tightened security, everything that breaks the Belter spirit. We are afraid for ourselves with this upheaval but we are not the only ones at risk.”

“We can do some good, boss,” said Joe.

“This is what we do, Andy,” Nicky agreed

Andy shook her head ruefully. “You two know that teaming up against me specifically is a low blow.” She huffed out a laugh as Joe made exaggerated puppy eyes. “But you’re right, you’re right, put those away. Something’s changed, we all felt it. For the sake of the Inner Planets and the Belt, we’ll work to get to the bottom of this.”

“After we go to Eros,” Booker interjected quickly. The others rolled their eyes in exasperation.

“That was implied, Booker,” Lykon said and got up to get cups for Joe and Nicky. Once everyone had a drink, he leaned on his hand and raised the cup in front of him. The others followed suit. “It’s just us. Without Phoebe and the rest of the parasite that lived there, it will only ever be us. We take care of each other and then we take care of the system. Here’s to family.” Mismatched cups clinked together after his words.

“To family.”

On a lower level of Eros, Nile Freeman gave a wide smile to one of the red-light children running past her seat. The musty air felt hot and thick this far under the surface, but Nile breathed easy as the air purifiers did their work. Her eyes followed the child as he ran down the tunneled street and disappeared down another corridor, careful not to let her gaze break off and be caught scoping doors and corners. CPM Security Corp had their forces everywhere and the rocketing tensions between the Inner Planets had only made the Earth corp more trigger happy. If nothing else, Earth and Mars loved to take their pain and deliver it to the Belt a hundredfold.

Nile’s smile didn’t falter as her nails scratched angrily at the cracked paint of the table. She could see it already: water restrictions in effect for every station in the Belt, but somehow still having specific targets. The Inyalowda living on the stations would be able to water their precious gardens and breathe air created by their trees and grass instead of bottled on Earth and pumped through purifiers. They wouldn’t have to gasp for oxygen when the security forces accepted bribes to look the other way when people refused to pay enough to keep the air filtration systems running clean. That honor would be reserved for Belters.

“It’s been a long time since they sent you off Ceres, _sésata_ ,” a voice chimed from her left. Nile gave a small hmm and turned in her seat. Dizzy smiled at her from the seat over.

“Apparently not too long, Dizz, no one’s taught you to walk quietly.”

“I’ve been doing my best but there’s only so much I can do with what I’m given,” Jay joked as she slumped into the seat beside Dizzy. Nile felt her cheeks ache with smiling when Dizzy gave an insulted squawk.

“No blame, Jay, I know what you’re working with.”

Dizzy grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest in a playful sulk. “See if I ever cover you two for noodles again.”

Personally, Nile thought it was pretty heroic of Jay to refrain from rolling her eyes, considering Jay had paid for all three of them at least the last three times they’d managed to get together. She interjected before Dizzy and Jay could get going for real. “It’s been a long time. Dawes has been keeping me busy on Ceres.” Nile couldn’t help the pride that bled into her voice. “I’ve been put in charge of some jobs. Not that I’m super important, obviously, I don’t answer to him directly or anything. But it feels good.” 

“Always knew you were going places, Nile.” Dizzy reached over and shook her shoulder and Nile used the momentum to knock her body into Dizzy’s. This is what she had missed after she, Dizzy, and Jay went their separate ways to get off Pallas Station years ago. All three of them had made their way to Ceres independently and ended up working for the Ceres Station OPA faction but that work kept them spread out over the Belt. Dizzy and Jay had been sent out as envoys to Eros as the different factions all seemed to eye the asteroid as free real estate. Eros had never developed its own OPA faction, despite being one of the first colonies; as a result, almost every OPA faction had some foothold here. Nile, meanwhile, had watched their drive plume fade into the stars and then got to work.

It had been a long few years working the lower levels of Ceres, building an information network and forging connections to people who could be encouraged to fight for the Belt. If the Inners didn’t give enough water or food, if they didn’t supply enough air for the whole station, then Nile made sure that she could even the supply. If there were Earth corp thugs who targeted Belters for shake-downs to pad their pockets, then Nile formed patrols that worked to actually protect civilians. And if Star Helix Security did their best to shut down any individual rallying, Nile led a march big enough to force Star Helix to abandon their normal routes for the day. Eventually, she’d clawed her way up to helping distribute funds that were collected from port taxes to Belter businesses and people needing loans. 

Even so, there was still _so_ much more work to be done, and Nile could feel herself burning out. Worse were the moments that she wondered if what she was doing made any difference at all. She still admired Dawes but… well, no use worrying about things like that. She had her higher purpose, and for right now, she had her friends.

“I’ll make sure to remember you when I become the OPA spokeswoman,” she said, laughing as Dizzy used the grip on her shoulder to shove her away. “It seems like you two have been good here, yeah? Nothing much changed?”

Dizzy wagged her hand back and forth. “Nothing much until recently. You know the security force here, CPM?” Nile lifted her fist slightly in acknowledgement. “They all got fired.”

“I’ve seen them all around?” Nile didn’t point over her shoulder but it was a close thing. “There’s been one on the corner for the past few hours.”

“Not regular CPM,” Dizzy corrected. “All their old force got fired, been replaced with Black Sky and Golden Bough members coming from Ceres.”

Nile’s mind raced. She would be tempted to think that Dizzy was trying to get one over on her, but if she was joking, she had many more believable stories to try. Black Sky and Golden Bough, though?

“Belters from the two most militant OPA factions relocated from Ceres to replace an Earth corp security force? Black Sky and Golden Bough are more likely to kill _welwala_ who work for security forces than become them.”

“But their scrip spends,” Dizzy said. “They’ve been coming over for a few weeks now. _Felota_ took down the security cameras for ‘maintenance’ but it’s just their way of making it easier to shake people down.”

None of this made any sense. It was one thing for Belters to work for Earth corp security forces—Nile knew people needed money. She hated the term _welwala_ for people who were just trying to survive. But for Black Sky and Golden Bough, OPA factions considered terrorists by the Inners and radical at best by much of the Belt, there was no good reason for working with Inners. Now, they were coming over by the ship, lining up to sell out.

“Should have tried harder to find a reason to visit, I guess…” she said faintly, letting her eyes wander with deliberate lack of care.

“And there’s a reason now?” Jay watched her carefully. Nile let her eyes flash between her two friends before looking over their shoulders.

“Call it a precaution?” That sounded too much like a question. “Call it paranoia, but with everything happening with Inyalowda, Dawes at least wanted eyes on the closest asteroid to Mars.” Nile gave her short Belter shrug, palms facing the top of the tunnel. “Eros’ orbit crosses Mars’ orbit—”

“Yeah, sometimes. Not like it’s come close to Mars in years!” Dizzy sounded insulted, and while Nile knew to expect it once she explained, she still felt her throat tighten.

“It’s also not my call,” Nile bit out. “Who knows if he was honest when he told me anything about the reason, either! It’s Anderson Dawes. The man’s been in charge of the OPA on Ceres Station for this long by keeping his cards close.”

“If it is the truth, it means that he doesn’t trust us anymore.” Jay’s eyes had stayed on Nile’s hands instead of her face as Nile and Dizzy talked but she darted them up to meet Nile’s gaze quickly. “He might not have been the one to send us here, but we’re still OPA. We’re still Beltalowda.”

“I’m not saying you’re not.” Nile kept her voice deliberately even-toned even as her heart pounded in her chest. She could face down a riot force on Ceres without blinking, but this, oh she _hated_ this. She never could hear a friend yell without feeling the back of her eyes begin to burn. “Maybe—maybe what it is, is that you two were sent here for official communication. I’m not officially here.”

“So this is a spy job.” Dizzy couldn’t be making her distaste more clear. Jay seemed more considering, both of her long thin index fingers pressed to her lips. “We’re organizers, Nile, not spooks. Our job is to help Beltalowda, our _beratnas_ and _sésatas_. Spy jobs are a good way to get killed.”

“What, would you rather she not be here at all?” Jay asked. Dizzy gave a double take at the question.

“No, I—” she gave a sharp exhale through her nose. “Of course not. That isn’t what I meant.”

“Then don’t act like you’re getting territorial over this shithole.” Jay turned back to Nile. “I think that Dawes hasn’t shown his hand yet, but I also think that we’re family. Let’s go act like family.”

Nile looked from Jay to Dizzy. Dizzy stared at her for half a second before rolling her eyes and letting the corner of her lips quirk up. At that, Nile could feel her back muscles uncoil and her face returned to its sunshine grin.

“So long as you’re buying, _sésata_.”

This might not be home like Pallas, and it didn’t have the shiny upper levels like Ceres, but Belters were still Belters and as long as she was in the Belt, Nile had her people.

_Sochi, Eurasian Free Trade Zone, circa 2175 AD_

_Andromache ignored the burning in her eyes as she watched the workers move all of the heavy furniture out of the small home she had shared with her mother and sisters. Her fingers tightened on the strap of the pack slung over her shoulder; it felt like the pack had a mind to drag her down beneath the surface, six feet under until she once again shared four walls with her mother. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t lift a foot and take that first step. Andromache heard gravel crunching to her right and lowered her head to stare determinedly at her shoes. Maybe if she glared hard enough, it would melt the glue keeping her stuck in front of this shell of a home. But not soon enough, she thought, as the footsteps came to a stop beside her._

_“I know, Gaia,” she said before her older sister could make a sound. Andromache felt more than heard the sigh._

_Truly, she did know. Andromache knew her future here had died with their mother. Their house was already being cleared out, Gaia had gripped her hand tight as the two of them were led through the financial procedures to close out Berenice’s accounts and settle debts. Helene still had her apprenticeship and Gaia had space for both Helene and Charis at her home. Andromache had been the one who stayed as their mother’s health failed. She was the one left without a purpose now. She squared her shoulders and turned to Gaia._

_“I know, it’s time to go. It just… it feels a lot different than I imagined.”_

_“Good different or bad different?” Gaia asked._

_“When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”_

_Gaia linked their arms together and tugged slightly as she turned away; finally, Andromache’s feet were freed from the earth beneath them. The two fell into step as they walked down the road towards the lonely tram stop on the corner. The house and all its memories faded further into the background with every step._

_“Now just because you’re jetting off into space doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook to write,” Gaia told her firmly. Andromache’s acknowledgement got drowned out as Gaia continued. “I expect weekly vid chats, even if it’s just you recording yourself saying you’re alive and haven’t gotten yourself spaced talking back to a captain.”_

_“As if I would let anyone space me.”_

_“See, that attitude proves my point. Weekly vids for me, and extra for the girls as they finish apprenticeships.”_

_“So basically I should just be recording at all times.”_

_“If you insist.”_

_Andromache gave a delighted cackle and shook her head. “I will need to actually work for passage off this rock, you know.”_

_“I also know enough about space to know that your comm can float right by your head.” Gaia reached over and flicked at her nose gently. “Don’t try to weasel your way out of this.”_

_Andromache held her hands up. “I would never.” She let her lips fall closed over her teeth as they walked on, thinking. “Do you think Helene and Charis will want to talk to me?”_

_To her credit, Gaia didn’t reply immediately. Andromache felt a violent surge of love for her sister, who refused to lie even to spare pain. Gaia described even white lies as a garden for mistrust. As much as Andromache could wish that her sister would spare feelings even just once, she could say without hesitation that she trusted everything Gaia said._

_“I think they will very soon,” Gaia settled on, giving Andromache’s arm a light squeeze. “They’re young and they’re scared right now. None of us were prepared for mother’s death… they just don’t know how to hold on to the rest of the family without all of us living in the same town.”_

_Andromache rolled her lips between her teeth as she looked down at the ground. Their entire family had always been together. They were never still for long, moving from Sochi to Athens when Gaia and Andromache were young girls, moving around Greece as teenagers as their mother followed work around the country and did her best to raise two, then three, then four girls, before finally moving back to Sochi when Andromache completed her apprenticeship and Helene got accepted for hers. Andromache was the first to look for meaning beyond their family. It was no wonder that Helene and Charis didn’t understand._

_“Hey.” Andromache moved her eyes back to Gaia’s easily. “Don’t let your head get to the clouds before the rest of you. Give them a week and both will be begging to see you.” Andromache nodded and straightened. “That’s my girl.”_

_The two of them slowed several feet from the tram stop, coming to a halt before they got under the roof. Andromache let herself stare for several seconds before taking a deep breath and turning to her sister. She let their arms slip apart but grabbed her hands tightly. Gaia returned the pressure without hesitation._

_“We’ll see each other again,” she promised. “Not just through a comm screen. You know I don’t abandon family.”_

_Gaia’s face cracked for the first time since she’d approached Andromache outside their empty house. She gave a weak sniffle, her knuckles turning white around Andromache’s fingers._

_“I know. And I know you’ll find more family out there.” Gaia switched to Russian. “If the family is together, the soul is in the right place.”_

_The tram pulled in front of the station with a silent whoosh. Andromache grabbed Gaia fiercely and hugged her tight. Then abruptly, she let go._

_“I’ll call you all soon.” With that, Andromache spun on her heel and boarded the bus without pause. She didn’t let herself look back until she had stowed her bag and sat down next to a window._

_Gaia stood where Andromache left her, tears now streaming down her face. Still, when she saw Andromache looking out the window, Gaia gave a tremulous smile and waved her hand. Andromache dragged her hand up and pressed it against the window pane. The doors to the tram closed silently but to Andromache they echoed like a gong. It lifted to hover over the street and silently ran along the line connecting it to the next stop. Andromache was left with her palm pressed to the glass as her sister disappeared from sight. She allowed her fingers to slowly curl in as Gaia’s outline faded entirely. Sitting back in her seat, Andromache breathed slowly, deliberately, in and out as she blinked back tears from her eyes. She would see her sisters again. She would see Gaia have the daughter she always wanted. She would see Helene graduate her apprenticeship and she would see Charis decide her track in life._

_This was not the end. This was a brand new beginning._

**Author's Note:**

> Lang Belta, the language of the Belt  
> sésata - sister  
> beratna - brother  
> welwalla - traitor to the Belt  
> Beltalowda - Belters, people from the Belt  
> Inyalowda - Inners, people from Earth or Mars  
> Felota - shit, slang (literally 'floater')


End file.
